scrubbedexpat056

Would I be right in thinking that buying a property in France that is let and waiting for the expiry of the tenancy before taking it over could be an unpredictable way of gaining access? From what I understand, agents and landlords are very careful about letting property because the tenants have serious rights once ensconced. If a tenant has a yearly tenancy agreement would it be foolish to assume you could simply not renew the tenancy at its end, however long that is, and take possession of the property? We are in the happy position of having our boat to live on for as long as it takes to find the right place.

south_bound

It depends on whether it is let as furnished or unfurnished. When we first moved to France we rented a furnished house which was also for sale, though we were not interested in buying it. We had a one year contract which gave us an option to renew annually automatically. The landlord could give us notice to leave 3 months before the annual renewal date, which he did as part of his sale process ie. his buyers had to wait until the end of our annual period before getting access. I understand that unfurnished rentals work on a 3 year cycle and it might be more difficult to give notice in that the tenants might have an absolute right to renew up to 9 years ie.3 cycles regardless. Then there is the risk that tenants stop paying rent and can't be evicted easily but that is another subject. Hope that helps.